1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to emergency fire-fighting equipment and more specifically to portable battery powered smoke evacuation fan and light assemblies.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Use of ventilation in rescue and firefighting operations is a well-recognized and widely used practice to reduce risks of injury or death from dangerous fire gases, smoke, toxic fumes, flashover, and backdraft situations. The object of ventilation is generally to direct fire gases, smoke, and toxic fumes away from trapped victims, rescuers, and firefighting personnel as well as to lower temperatures in burning areas to minimize flashover and backdraft situations. Smoke and hot fire gases kill more people and cause more damage than flames.
Natural ventilation techniques take advantage of available winds and of drafts created by rising hot gases of the fire in combination with strategic openings in the burning building. However, it is often beneficial to augment natural ventilation with mechanical ventilation equipment and methods. Fog streams from a fire hose spray nozzle can move considerable amounts of air, but they have the disadvantages of using large quantities of water for non-attack operations, requiring continuous use of a pump, and can cause additional water damage. Ventilation fans are more versatile and have been powered by gasoline engines, electric motors, air motors, and water motors, all of which have their advantages and disadvantages. For example, a water-powered ventilator fan requires handling and connecting long runs of fire hose, a water reservoir, and pump. An air powered ventilator fan requires an air compressor and long runs of air hose. A gasoline engine powered ventilator fan is self-contained, but is heavy (the engine and fan weighing as much as 95 pounds) making it (i) difficult to lift off fire trucks and carry up and down stairs, (ii) brings a highly flammable fuel into a fire environment, (iii) produces dangerous carbon monoxide which blows into the burning house unless long, cumbersome exhaust tubes are used to conduct exhaust out of the building (which tubes get hot and can ignite fires in carpets, papers, and the like), (iv) not able to run in smoky areas, (v) sometimes suffers from carburetor freeze-up, (vi) is sometimes not reliable starting, and (vii) produces high levels of noise that interferes with voice communications. Electric motor operated fans are clean, but they require an electric generator on a fire truck or set outside the building, since electricity is usually turned off at burning buildings, and long electric cords leading into burning houses can be shock hazards and can become entangled and cause tripping hazards.